Divergent

DIVERGENT (Divergent #1) by: Veronica Roth

4.5 Stars

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

Okay so I usually am less inclined to read a book if there is a fairly large following behind it...I am not sure why this it. I can probably attribute it to the fact that as a teenager I was not one to give into peer pressure, in fact if someone tried to pressure me into something (ie. Drinking, smoking, dating someone...) I was certainly NOT going to do it. Just to have the smug satisfaction that I chose to go against the grain. Now I find myself in the same situation in the book universe. Oh everyone loves 'Divergent'...yeah I will put it on my to-read list but I am certainly not going to read it any time soon. So two years later I find that I really need to read it, if for no other reason that I will also not allow myself to be one of those 'fan girls' who reads things only after the movie comes out.

Now with March quickly approaching I broke down and got the book yesterday. I have a love hate relationship again with anything 'popular' so it is with much reluctance that I admit the fans got it right...this book is incredibly amazing. A few people have ask me what I would compare it to and 'Hunger Games' keeps popping into my head, even though they only real similarity that the two share is that the new futuristic societies that have become the US have both decided to divide into fractions. Other than that there is really nothing else. (Oh and PS Hunger Games I am still pissed at you for the way 'Mocking Jay' ended and if the Divergent series comes close to that I may just off myself...)

 'Divergent' is the tall, dark, handsome, and funny guy in the room. He draws you in with his beautiful cover and quick 'pick up' lines and continues to fascinate you throughout the evening and seriously leaves you needing wanting more. There were some witty comments but not enough to thing he's trying too hard, enough violence and suspense that leave you on the seat of your chair but not enough that you are having nightmares for months on end, enough romance to keep you interested, and of course enough hero/bad guy issues that you feel like a giddy-nerdy teenager. Thank goodness I don't have to wait a year in between books, because that might have given me a coronary. The book didn't end in a huge cliff hanger which I appreciate, I mean seriously authors! Making your readers wait for a year plus when the story didn't end in a good spot is both cruel and fascist. Okay I relent, I understand why you do it...but that doesn't make it any easier to endure those months and months between your work. So Ms. Veronica Roth on behalf of readers everywhere, I thank you for ending your first book well and making the entire thing a work of art.

Super excited to check out book number two. Stay posted hopefully my review of 'Insurgent' will be quick to follow this one.